


Borrowed time

by Yolonolobroyo



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Help, M/M, No Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2017-12-19
Packaged: 2019-02-16 23:57:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13064865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yolonolobroyo/pseuds/Yolonolobroyo
Summary: Ugh, tags aren't working right now, inspiration is at an all time low, and it's late. This was the only thing I could get out. Sorry it's so weird, I find the longer I work on a specific chapter the less I like it. Enjoy your angst and pain.Geno, Reaper, and Goth are in here. They don't belong to me.





	Borrowed time

Geno always felt like he was running on borrowed time.

Even before the resets, there was this ominous feeling hanging over him, heavy, but not unbearable. Papyrus mostly deterred his more nihilistic thoughts with his mere presence, which was a good portion of the reason he'd stayed by him so much. It wasn't that that was the only reason he hung out with him. His brother was really cool! And it wasn't like he needed him to be a bodyguard. Pap was tough, despite his outward appearance.

After the resets began, his attitude only darkened, the cloud of depression finally heavy enough to sink down around his head, filling his skull and soul with the invasive darkness that pressed down on his ribs. Sometimes he swore he could hear them creaking beneath the pressure.

He wondered how long it would take for them to snap.

Then came the genocide runs. Geno didn't like to think on those. When he did, he tried not to go into too much detail, lest he become hysterical. He hated thinking of those dark days, but sometimes, like now, he didn't have a choice.

Pap died. He _died_. Just flat out _murdered_  in the street when he had offered _mercy_.

The rest of his friends died soon after.

Then it was his turn.

He'd faced the human more times than he could count, but he could tell that it was well over a hundred.

Finally, he'd gotten desperate. He'd also gotten Determination.

Determination was a scary thing. Just a little made him feel like he was made of glass that had been taken from an oven and then thrown into the Snowdin River. His body was being broken up, melded together, pulled away from him, and pushed back into the wrong space all at once. He saw things. Things so much worse than the resets. A child with red eyes and a dripping smile, darkness surrounding him, wrapping around his throat and curling around his wrists, a million different people that looked like him or his brother, a dripping man experiencing the very same thing he was, screaming and screaming at the nothingness to receive no reply and curl up into the fetal position, screeching mixing with sobs as tears streaked down his face, the black closing in around him.

Finally, it was time to face his murderer again.

He had more power, he switched attack patterns, he stayed alive for a good few runs. But then it happened again. This time, he didn't want to do this the human's way. This affected him too. They weren't the only one who should get a say. Also, he didn't know if he would come back okay if he completely melted before or during the reset.

That wasn't the first time he met Reaper. It was just the first time he'd ever surprised him. Then, in the save screen, Reaper had sometimes visited. Once he tried to kill him, as it was his job to do so, and he sure was suffering, but nothing he did worked.

The surprises just kept coming.

They fell in love after god only knows how long. A little while ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~a few years~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  later, their little boy, Geno's precious little treasure, Goth, was born. He mostly stayed in the save screen with Geno, keeping the loneliness and shadows at bay while his father was off reaping. Of course, this didn't provide a very good social environment, so while Reaper was off doing whatever death gods do, Geno would take him to the only place he could exist (other than the save screen) without dying. There were other kids there, children of his alternates who had also fallen for their alternate selves, that Goth could play with while his 'mom' went and talked to his own friends.

Some years after, only about seven, Geno estimated, Reaper announced that he wouldn't be visiting for a time, as Life had vanished (he hesitated for a second there. Geno knew that that wasn't the whole story, but he didn't push it, as this was probably hard on his husband as it was,) and he needed to search for her.

And with that, he gave his son and his husband a kiss before he, too, vanished.

His brother showed up roughly two weeks later. A nasty hurricane had hit a small island. Many were dead. Geno didn't understand the dread coiling in his stomach until Grim's eyes landed on Goth. His baby.

He asked Goth to go with him. He couldn't be everywhere at once, and Reaper couldn't help until Life had been found.

Goth, his sweet, innocent, ever helpful treasure, agreed. When he finally returned, he was changed.

Geno knew he would be, of course. Reaper didn't like talking about his job much, but from what he said and what he read from between the lines, it was painful.

But this was almost cruel.

His son rarely smiled. He had days where he didn't say anything. He just stared down at his hands like he didn't recognize them, a sad and haunted look in his eyes. He recognized the feeling, and he never wanted to see it on a child so young, especially not _his_ child.

Sometimes, he didn't see his boy for days. Those were the worst. What if he was hurt? What if he was dead? Could his son die? What was happening to him right this very second?

Geno very nearly hated Life. He knew, of course, that this wasn't her fault. She hadn't wanted to disappear (right?). She hadn't asked the other gods to send Reaper to find her. She hadn't asked for any of this. But emotions and fears were rarely ever rational.

He curled in on himself, trying to steady his breathing and the frantic thumping of his SOUL. Today was approximately the 3011th anniversary of the day Reaper left. His spouse still hadn't returned. His son didn't look a day above ten, even though he was nearly 3018 years old. Geno chuckled softly to himself before his mirthless mockery of amusement turned into harsh sobs, which became hacking coughs. It was hard, but he had raised Goth to be a fine young man almost all alone.

Blood spattered onto the dark ground. His borrowed time was running out.

A soft swooshing noise accented by a quiet gasp went unnoticed in favor of the unholy coughing.

Blurry white shapes fluttered on the edge of his vision. He could feel the air moving near his right socket and something soft and familiar brushing against his hand.

He stifled the coughs and looked up. He smiled.

Reaper.

Reaper was back.

"Gen, fuck, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be gone so long-"

Geno snuggled into Reaper's hold. It had been far too long. He just wanted to be held.

"Where's Goth? Is he okay?" Geno sighed, knowing that the answer would burn, but his lover wouldn't give up until he got the full truth.

"Took over for you till you came back," he rasped. Reaper made a whimpering whining sound, the one he made when he was trying not to cry but ended up crying anyway. "He'll be back soon."

He lifted his head laboriously to look at the death god. His SOUL broke even further, seeing tears streak down his face. He said nothing, simply pulling him closer and burying his face into his cloak. He sighed, feeling his bones soften and begin to drip and dust. His hands tightened their grip on Reaper before he let go and allowed his life to slip away, Reaper's whimpers and sobs acting as background noise for the gruesome scene.

Reaper had not known what he would see when he went to see his husband and son, but it sure as hell wasn't the sight that greeted him.

Geno had been curled up on the ground (?) and choking on what seemed to be nothing. Blood dripped from his teeth.

His SOUL froze in his ribs.

He had seen many, human and monster, cough up blood. He usually ended up reaping them shortly after. He rushed to his husband, hands fluttering about uselessly as he frantically tried to remember some way to help him, comfort him, ease the pain, _something_. The horrid grating noise settled into wheezing.

"Gen, fuck, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be gone so long, I didn't want to leave you two alone, I'm sorry sweetie." Geno didn't reply, simply clung to him and sighed happily. Reaper could feel his grip on life start to weaken. He pulled in a shaky breath.

"Where's Goth? Is he okay?" Why wasn't his son with his mother? Had something happened to him? A sharp icicle slashed his SOUL. He was already losing his partner, he couldn't survive losing his precious boy as well, god or not.

"Took over for you till you came back," Geno mumbled. Reaper tried to hold back the rather undignified mewl of despair. "He'll be back soon."

Asgore why? Why his little boy? He was only a child. He shouldn't have been forced into the role, not while he was so young.

Geno looked up at him, and for the first time in 3000 years, he saw Geno's face.

He couldn't quite see clearly, as the tears blurred his vision, but he could tell it wasn't much older than it had been last time, but his eyes were warm and bright with a knowledgeable sparkling vitality that only a parent can possess. He gave him a small smile that was tight with pain, but no less sincere. His SOUL started up again, twice as fast. If he hadn't been called, he knew he never would have left them.

Geno sighed softly and nuzzled his face into Reaper's chest like he used to do when he was having a bad day or simply felt lonely and touch starved. Reaper's arms immediately rose to hold him closer to himself - and froze. He could feel his bones losing consistency until it became almost like clay, then sludge.

Reaper stared down at the lumpy gray dust, pondering what might have been had Life not disappeared. He knew not how much time had passed before he heard another rift being opened. He glanced up.

Goth stood, still very small despite his age, as gods age slowly, wearing a scarf like his late mother's and wielding a scythe much like his own, staring down at the ashy mass on the ground. He released a grief-stricken wail.

Reaper had never been in this situation. Geno had been the one to raise Goth. Reaper had never dealt with this sort of loss. He simply reaped the SOUL and moved on. He had never seen the aftermath of his work. He didn't know how to comfort his son. He felt useless. He couldn't do his job, forcing his son to do the cruel, unrewarding work, he couldn't help his spouse when he died, and he couldn't comfort his boy now. Was there any good he _could_  do?

Goth and Reaper locked eyes. All was silent as he drank in the sight of his only child. His eyes were bright, but a familiar darkness lingered behind them, and he felt a sharp sting of regret for exposing his child to that darkness at such a tender age. They overflowed with the misery that he felt echoing morosely in himself - the misery of Geno's death.

"Father."

"Son," Reaper breathed softly. Though one member of his tiny family had died, his young scion was still here. The fact that he was looking at him so coldly did not upset him. Any sign of his heir after so many millennia felt like a gift, regardless of how the boy felt toward him.

"It's been a while."

Reaper gave him a sad smirk. "Indeed."

A beat of silence passed.

"So Mom..." his offspring trailed off, likely unable to finish the sentence.

"Yes."

"When...when did you get back?"

"Just a few moments before he...fell."

They stayed quiet, fighting past their mutual bereavement, before Goth spoke up again.

"Was he happy?"

"...Yes," the death god whispered, "I think he was happy."


End file.
